Mike Lesmeister - CMG Financial - Houston, Texas

A recent survey of Houston, TX-area real estate investors shows that they are generally optimistic about the local housing market. Overall, 81% of the respondents, 74% of whom are experienced real estate investors with at least two investment properties, felt optimistic about the prospects for th...

FHA has just announced their policy changes affecting FHA mortgage financing. You might recall we talked about possible options in an earlier posting, but now we have something concrete. First, as expected, FHA will be increasing their up-front mortgage insurance premium by .50% to 2.25% on a pur...

Just as maybe, kinda, you were thinking the housing markets were beginning to stabilize....BOOM! Fitch Ratings, an investment rating service today warned that $47 Billion in interest-only (IO) mortgages are due to reset before the end of 2010, and another $130 Billion in Prime, Alt-A, and Subprim...

It is 2010. You're a first time, or maybe even a second-time, homebuyer and you still aren't sure if buying a home is the right thing to do now. Maybe you won't qualify for a mortgage.  What if home prices haven't quite bottomed out yet? Perhaps, you don't know where to start.  After all, buying ...

Since we have now thankfully placed 2009 in the rear view mirror, it is time to ask ourselves, "will 2010 be any better?" Being a bit of an amateur prognosticator, I have put together my own list of real estate-related predictions for 2010. Remember, I can't be proven wrong for another year, and ...